User blog:PIIP/Board Member Dinah Van Wingerden with Eleos in India and Bangladesh
A Pilgrimage to Mecca and a Journey to the Center of My Soul This due diligence trip is on its sixth and final day, and as promised this entry marks the end of this bog. Thank you all for your support and for your interest in the work of the Eleos Foundation and for sticking with me during my travels. Thanks also to those of you who wrote emails of support. Your notes were happy lilts in some heavy days. Before I narrate the events of our final day in Asia, fearing I will not have time to get to the end, I am going to begin with my conclusion. Back in Santa Barbara, while planning flights and schedules and making the necessary arrangements, we always referred to ‘the trip.’ This ‘trip,’ somewhere along the way, without my noticing, transformed into a journey. As I prepared for what lay ahead at each point along the way, I prepared more for the logistics of the day and did not notice the transformation taking place within myself. Each day I concerned myself with asking the right questions and looking at projects with the criteria of “market based solutions to issues of poverty” foremost in my mind. My thinking revolved around the projects that had the best chance to transform health care in India and Bangladesh. Which projects were going to “move the needle?” All my focus was outward. This last night in Bangladesh as I prepare to leave with my notes, photos, and questions answered, I feel the needle has moved inside of me, that these experiences over the last six days have transformed the way I think about the condition of people in other parts of the world. What I take away, along with my recommendation for ‘best bets’ for Eleos, is a transformation in my understanding of the condition of mankind. If it is true that you can never really know the ‘other’ I believe that walking even a small distance along the journey with the ‘other’ will lead to better understanding, instills a deeper desire for connection and erodes the barriers that separate us. (I will stop here, leaving you with your own thoughts and ideas and because mine are not original and have been far better articulated by the great masters, teachers and revolutionaries who have devoted their lives to the condition of mankind.) Ultimately, as they say, the change we seek starts within. I have to admit I kinda had it back ***wards. So, I am grateful to Eleos for this opportunity to set me straight and for leading me forward in this transformation. On the day of our flight to Bangladesh we first met up with Andy in Delhi after an overnight train ride. We ha an early morning meeting with Al Hammond, Amit Jain and Renu from eHealthPoint. It was an opportunity to talk more in depth with Amit who is the lead man in India. After that meeting, Jim, Andy and I felt a greater sense of confidence in the ability of ehp to execute their ambitious goal of opening five clinics a month, each month this year, providing they can raise the capital. Next stop-Bangladesh to visit with Vision Spring, BRAC and the shrine to social impact investing, THE GRAMEEN BANK. Though Bangladesh is wrapped (geographically) by India, Bangladesh has managed to distinguish itself in many aspects from India. Even the non-familiar like myself, can notice at a cursory glance that there are distinct differences in geography and in the makeup and culture of the people. Firstly, Dhaka and its environs are in a delta region of the Ganges and laced with water. This water supply supports an agricultural sector with rice paddies predominant. The water also creates a fertile breeding ground for disease carrying vectors, namely mosquitoes. Secondly, the features of a noticeable amount of the population on the street appeared to be influenced by the neighbors to the southeast. Thirdly, while still a Muslim country, the dress of the women was less strict. Not all women wore head covering. The capital city of Dhaka shared features in common with many major cities around the world. It was big, crowded, polluted. It did not however seem to have nice areas where monuments, museums, or other features big cities typically possess that demonstrate a level of money and power. We had no suggestions when we asked what we should go see if we wanted to take a tour of the city. The morning of our first full day in Bangladesh we were met at the hotel by Lalit from vision Spring and a gentleman (name escapes me at the moment) from BRAC. BRAC is the largest NGO in the world. It is one year younger than Bangladesh itself, founded in 1972 while Bangladesh became independent in 1971. We were driven south of the city for about an hour in to one of the villages where BRAC has a micro lending program and where Vision Spring is implementing its eyeglass project through BRACs health services entrepreneur program. We spent most of the day in the village joining a women’s micro lending group meeting. This was a large group of women (approximately 40) of all ages. I was surprised by the age span, wondering if the younger girls were there simply because they had nothing better to do. Even though we could not talk to each other, the women were warm and welcoming towards me. Three of the younger girls tried to talk to me and we managed to communicate a few sentiments back and forth. One girl spoke just enough English to ask me my name and to ask how old I was. In the spirit of connection and cross cultural understanding I managed to communicate my name and my 39 years of age! JK LOL etc. When I told them I was 52, the young girl said “old.” Sigh. Kids. Obstreperous the world over! After we visited the micro finance group, we walked just a short distance, not even 100 yards away, to visit another gathering. This smaller circle was gathered together by an entrepreneur conducting eye screening and selling eye glasses. The women were sitting in a line taking their turn at the eye exam. The product line was simple, reading glasses in standard powers. The answer to Jim’s question as to why these women would buy glasses from Vision Spring entrepreneurs versus paying nearly the same at the shops was that these village women seldom go into town and even if they were to venture to a shop, they would not know how to determine which power reading glass to purchase. The test was a chart, held at a fixed distance with the E symbol in rows descending in size, facing different directions. It was a simple exam to administer. In addition, there was a thread the needle exam. Many of these women must sew. Being able to see properly will greatly enhance their ability to work. Vision Spring, like eHealth Points has an ambitious business plan. They are providing a market based solution that reaches the rural population. But in order for the program to be sustainable it must reach a certain scale. They are looking for donors to help them get to scale. By two we were schedule to be at a meeting at the Grameen Bank. For anyone who has worked in, or is familiar with the field of sustainable development, going to Grameen is like making a pilgrimage to Mecca. After circumambulating the building (well maybe only walking around the place a bit) we were led to the office of the General Manager of the Grameen Bank. The original plan was for us to go out to one of the program sites, but there was a glitch in the planning somewhere and we ended up managing to get in to see the General Manager of the Grammen Bank. This woman sitting behind a simple desk in a very modest office took the time to talk to us and got us in to see the Director of the branch of Grameen that handles the social business program. Grameen has 29 different programs. We had a brief, but informative discussion with the Director. She gave us an overview of some of the programs currently in place and directed us to keep in touch if we have any more questions. It was clear these two women occupying high positions in Grameen hold “Professor Yunus” in high esteem. Very large photos of Professor Yunus were in the buildings we passed through at Grameen. After our visit to Grameen we had a late lunch/early dinner with Lalit from Vision Spring. We had an opportunity to ask him more business related questions and since Lalit is from India we also asked him questions on the differences between India and Bangladesh. With our business day ending at 4 PM, we thought we would either take a tour of the city or try to get in a bit of shopping since we had to leave early the next morning. Hearing there was nothing to see in a city tour, we decided to go to the BRAC store where we could purchase hand made goods. The first challenge was that we no longer had the driver and van at our disposal. The security guard at the hotel managed to secure a “Tak Tak” for the three of us. If you know what a Tak Tak is and that there are three of us, you can already finish this paragraph with your own imagination. I did my best to take a picture of the three of us crammed into that little cage on wheels, but was not able to get one that was in focus and that captured the situation. Suffice to say that we laughed the whole way there, that is when we weren’t gasping at the near misses with other vehicles and pedestrians. The motorized cage reminded me of the carnivals/fairs of my youth where you and your friends would cram yourself in to one of the rides barely able to bring the bar down and squeeze the door shut before you starting spinning around and going up and down. When we arrived at the BRAC store and popped out of the cage, I felt like I had been spit back out of a time warp to my childhood. Jim and I left Andy to handle paying Mr. Toad for the wild ride. We thought to take rickshaws for the return ride, but as we were on a budget and we would each have to get our own rickshaw we opted for another thrilling ride in a Tak Tak. By 6 PM our day was over and so was our time in Bangladesh. For Jim and I the rigorous schedule of the past five days was hitting hard and we both turned Andy down when he offered that we meet later for dinner. Speaking for myself, I was ready to have a quiet evening in solitude to process all I had seen and experienced. I was also looking forward to a good nights rest in a full length bed to rest up in before we have to leave at 6:30 tomorrow morning for the long flight back to London. Alone in my room now, the magnitude of this experience is sinking in. Perhaps it is because in a few hours I will be transported out of this experience as rapidly as I entered it, or perhaps because it has been so different, and yes, even strange at times, that it is hard for me to grasp that people who live on the same earth, live such disparate lives, or perhaps it is because I live in a very large country with a relatively high standard of living, or it could be that for the most part, when I travel it is for leisure and I visit places where comfort and convenience are readily at hand, but I am feeling truly perplexed that I have not previously realized the vast differences in the condition of life that we who share this planet experience. Those of us who are fortunate enjoy and those of us who are not so fortunate endure. None of us ‘deserves’ to live better or worse than another. It is only the accident/luck of birth that delivers us to one place or another. I thought I ‘knew’ poverty. I have seen and experienced snapshots of poverty. The scope and ‘scale’ of global poverty has made its imprint on my soul. It is no longer an academic exercise for me to engage with, it now occupies a place integral to my experience as a human being. My work is ahead. Category:Blog posts